By Melissa Antoinette Garza
The Twilight Zone is my favorite television show tied only with Dragnet. Rod Serling is a genius. His brilliance will live on forever as his work is timeless.
I am a fan of older TV shows. I enjoy everything from The Honeymooners, I Love Lucy, The Three Stooges, and Laurel and Hardy. I am fairy familiar with most older shows – even the lesser known entries that only lasted a short time. So, it came as a surprise to me that I had never heard of a science fiction/horror series that was on during the same time as Serling’s classic.
One Step Beyond depicted “real” stories of paranormal activities. Everything from possession, premonitions, ghosts, and beings were shown. Their authenticity was discussed by the host John Newland. Now, admittedly the stories may not be true, but just like with horror films the thought that it could be definitely makes it all the freakier.
Though not as amazing as The Twilight Zone, One Step Beyond is quite a good show. Certain episodes are downright creepy. In one, a young girl has a premonition and is convinced a chandelier is going to crash upon her and kill her. There are elements of the show that actually are frightening. The character’s fear radiates with the audience well.
In another episode a woman is going with her beau somewhere for the first time. All of a sudden, she knows everything about the place she’s at. She becomes possessed with the ghost of a woman who was murdered. The spirit wants everyone to know that she was killed and did not die by accident. This is definitely one of the best episodes. When the woman begins recognizing the place she had never visited before, chills actually ran down my spine.
Another great episode shows a man who has never left the country before. On a vacation to a small island, everyone recognizes him and knows him by name. He has proof he’s never left the country as he just obtained his passport. Still, people know him. Stranger still, he begins having memories of the people within the island as well.
The good news is that this TV show is now available on Netflix. I highly recommend it though don’t be shocked if when watching you actually find yourself unnerved.
Overall Rating: 7/10
